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The Death Story
The Death Story (stylized as the DEATH story) is a Canadian television horror drama on ETV created by Colby Dorris. The series follows the daily obstacles of Eli Breasley, before his sudden death. Development of the series began in 2014 by Colby Dorris who then offered the show to ABC, Fox and NBC who all passed on the show in a two year time span. When Dorris finally decided to offer the series to ETV in mid-2016, they agreed to air the series with a pilot order. After casting Harry Nieves as the sole and lead regular cast member, ETV ordered a 10-episode first season.a On March 23, 2018, ETV announced that the series was renewed for a second season consisting of 13 episodes.a It was also reported that a "big number" of actors would join the starring cast. On April 20, 2019, ETV announced that the series was renewed for a third season consisting of 22 episodes; this being the first time the series receives a full-season order thanks to the successful second season.aaa On May 13, 2019, ETV announced that a special two-hour movie would precede the third season, which would air on September 27, 2017, prior to the January 2018 release of the third season.aaa This was later confirmed to be a replacement of having 22 episodes as Colby Dorris had told the network that "having such a long season was not in his plans."aaaa However, the exact amount of episodes was not specified, although it left the series' third season with a maximum episode count of 19. It was later confirmed that the third season would consist of 14 episodes, making the season use of 17 of 22 episodes. On February 28, 2020, ETV renewed the series for a fourth season, which was confirmed to be consisted of a high episode count of 16.aa On August 20, 2021, ETV renewed the series for a fifth season consisting of 12 episodes; the lowest since the 10-episode first season.aaa However, showrunner Colby Dorris stated that, "We were not actually downgraded, it was just a decision in the writing room that ratings-wise and storyline-wise, that the series would be better with fewer episodes moving forward."a On September 2, 2022, after months-speculation, ETV renewed the series for a sixth season consisting of 10 episodes.aa Showrunner Colby Dorris stated that due to ETV's prolonged decision on the fate of the series, that the entire season would not premiere until March 2023; though, instead of half run, the entire 10 episodes will follow on a weekly basis.aaaa Despite ETV not mentioning "final season", Dorris confirmed on October 17, 2022, that the sixth season would mark the Endgame Chapter, the last of the four-core parts of the series. However, Dorris stated that the chapter would not necessarily have to take one season.aa The sixth season, which was largely dubbed as the Endgame Chapter, lost over 200,000 regular viewers from the previous season.aaa Despite the loss, it marked the series' smallest decrease in viewers by twice less the amount.aaaaa Analysts stated that this was as a result of airing all episodes in a weekly basis without a half-mark hiatus, as well as having 10 episodes. On June 5, 2023, ETV renewed the series for a seventh season once again consisting of 10 episodes.aa On June 17, 2024, ETV renewed the series for a final eighth and ninth season both consisting of 7 episodes, with the 100th episode marking the show's end. Shortly after, showrunner Colby Dorris stated, "When I had originally created the series, I did not know where it would go. And now, it was just renewed for 2 final seasons, and I cannot thank you enough for viewing this series. The final 2 seasons, which we now have complete creative control of, will be part of the new Closure chapter. You'll see some familiar faces pop up here and there. Most of all, we will introduce new characters and say goodbye to some. Stay tuned." Premise The series follows Eli Breasley facing his daily obstacles before his sudden death, which leads to an "exciting twist of events."aa The ever-so-publicized "twist of events" was in effect starting from the third season of the series.a Cast and characters } | colspan="1" |- | Richie Loftin | Jerrod | colspan="2" | colspan="6" | colspan="2" |- | Greg Sorell | Bruce | colspan="1" | colspan="2" | colspan="1" | colspan="5" | colspan="1" |- | Chantal Pinson | Lara | colspan="1" | colspan="2" | colspan="7" |- !colspan="12"| Recurring cast |- | Louise Martens | Theresa | colspan="2" | colspan="1" | colspan="6" | colspan="1" |- | Millie Mccurdy | Valorie | colspan="1" | colspan="2" | colspan="6" | colspan="1" |- |} : As only Nieves and Foust were credited as regulars, other actors' roles were determined by their screentime. 'Main' * Harry Nieves as Eli Breasleya 'Starring' * Liliana Foust as Rachela * Richie Loftin as Jerroda 'Recurring' * Greg Sorell as Brucea * Louise Martens as Theresaa Series overview Chapters'''aa (100 episodes) * ''The World''a (24 episodes) ** Season 1 ** Season 2 ** Special film * ''The Beginnings''a (14 episodes) ** Season 3 * ''The Settlement''a (28 episodes) ** Season 4 ** Season 5 * ''The Endgame''a (20 episodes) ** Season 6 ** Season 7 * ''The Closure''a (14 episodes) ** Season 8 ** Season 9 List of episodes '''Season 1 (2017–18) This season is the only to feature only Colby Dorris as the sole writer.a 'Season 2 (2019)' Due to ETV restrictions, Jerrell Kowalski was introudced as a temporary writer, having written 2 episodes of the season; the rest were written by Dorris.aa 'Special (2019)' 'Season 3 (2020)' This season continued Kowalski's role as temporary writer, having written 2 episodes. Colby Dorris' sister, Ariel Dorris, wrote the sixth episode after she expressed interest in doing so.aaa In 2019, it was announced that Ariel Dorris would take over as the showrunner starting episode 10 due to Colby's personal commitments; Colby would return in the finale writen by him alongside Ariel.aaa 'Season 4 (2021)' In 2020, it was announced that Ariel Dorris would join Colby as an official writing staff member; this also gave Jerrell Kowalski a single co-written episode in the season. This was also the least season to feature Colby Dorris as a director of an episode.aa 'Season 5 (2022)' 'Season 6 (2023)' Four-season temporal writing member Jerrell Kowalski was not invited back to write an episode this season, leaving Ariel and Colby as the writers. 'Season 7 (2024)' 'Season 8 (2025)' 'Season 9 (2026)' Production 'Development' Development of the series began in 2014 by Colby Dorris who then offered the show to ABC, Fox and NBC who all passed on the show in a two year time span. When Dorris finally decided to offer the series to ETV in mid-2016, they agreed to air the series with a pilot order. After casting Harry Nieves as the sole and lead regular cast member, ETV ordered a 10-episode first season. 'Casting' In 2016, ETV announced that Harry Nieves was cast as the sole and lead series regular-narrator, portraying Eli Breasley. Months later, it was reported that Liliana Foust, Richie Loftin, Greg Sorell and Louise Martens would respectively portray Rachel, Jerrod, Bruce and Theresa in a recurring role.aaaa In an interview with TVLine, Nieves stated, "I personally decided that [The Death Story] would only have a core cast with Nieves' character as the story is just about Eli, not any other characters. Basically, when his story ends, all the other characters just become irrelevant and as is only Nieves will be credited as a series regular; at least just for now."a After the low-performing pilot which saw just 820,000 viewers watch,a ETV announced that Liliana Foust and Richie Loftin would join the cast.aa The network justified its decision, "When the first episode of a show does not even achieve one million viewers, it's a clear sign that something went wrong. If it was having just one cast member, which we see as a mutual complaint by many, then we hope to right the wrong."a Justifying ETV's decision, Dorris stated, "We had been expecting more viewers given the buzz, but I am not disappointed at ETV's decision as it wouldn't have been ideal to go on like that. But, I stand by my word from my interview as Nieves is credited as a main, whilst the rest are credited as starring."a Spin-off Failed attempt The series finale, which was watched by 1.19 million viewers, also had many scenes dedicated into launching a spin-off surrounding Richie Loftin's character Jerrod.aaa Loftin had served as a series regular in the first two seasons, before his dramatic exit at the second season finale.a His character's death was explained as he returned for the final two seasons of the series as a regular.a However, it was reported on August 3, 2026, that the spin-off did not go through due to ETV "doubting the series would attract much viewers."aaa Successful attempt On August 23, 2026, it was reported that a different spin-off, surronding Greg Sorell's character Bruce was being "considered by ETV."aa Sorell had played a recurring role in the first season before being the first character to die, coming back with the format changes in the third season as a series regular, but left after the one season.a Nonetheless, it was announced on August 30, 2026, that ETV had greenlit a pilot to the working title of The Bruce Story.aa On December 19, 2026, after months of staying silent, ETV announced that they had ordered the show to series, with the series consisting of 13 episodes premiering in "Late 2027".aaaa However, no official name for the series had been announced. Series star of The Death Story also confirmed in January 21, 2027, that he would not reprise his role in the spin-off after committing to Death Story for 9 years.aa Reception 'Ratings' 'Critical response' See also * List of original programs broadcast by ETV